UDP Network Communications for Wireless Control With Loop Coordination

With the advent of Bluetooth and wireless 802.11 Ethernet protocols having transmission speeds up to 54 Mbps, wireless communication for closed-loop control is becoming more and more achievable. Some researchers have utilized Bluetooth networks for wireless control, resulting in successful stabilization of an unstable plant with a network controller. Previously, the authors of this paper developed a novel event-based control with time-based sensing and actuation communication method using 11 Mbps wireless Ethernet with the user datagram protocol (UDP). Near real-time control of an unstable Furuta pendulum with up to 250 Hz closed loop bandwidth was obtained using off the shelf hardware, Matlab, and Windows 2000 operating systems. The present work extends that communication scheme to two independent wireless loops that share a mutual goal, making additional communication between the two controllers advantageous. The communication framework for the coupled control in this ad hoc peer-to-peer network is presented along with some practical limitations. Data from a physical system implementing this framework demonstrates its effectiveness in application. The test plant couples a simple light tracking plant with a Furuta pendulum and a shared goal of maintaining line of sight (LOS) under normal conditions as well as reestablishing LOS in the case of lost contact due to sudden obstacles.Copyright © 2004 by ASME